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Survey Finds Significant Statistical Insecurity

Most physicians have no confidence in their own ability to use medical statistics.

The era of evidence-based medicine means that physicians are continuously exposed to statistical concepts, but a survey from Mayo Clinic documents how insecure most of us feel about using them.

Of 301 medical students, internal medicine residents, and internal medicine faculty members who completed a questionnaire (for a response rate of 64%), only a small minority agreed they had had adequate training in medical statistics (17%), could tell when the correct statistical methods were used in a study (23%), could conduct their own statistical analyses with confidence (15%), or could design their own research with confidence (28%). Although faculty were more likely to report confidence than trainees, even they were seldom confident using statistics independently, and even among respondents with extensive self-reported research experience, only 55% were confident conducting their own statistical analyses. Almost 80% of respondents felt a biostatistician should be centrally involved in most research.

Comment: This study's results certainly ring true: It seems only the rare physician is truly fluent in statistics and in the language of medical research. Further, while researchers may collaborate with biostatisticians on their projects, clinicians struggling to explain new studies to patients are on their own and often make big mistakes. The authors suggest that evidence-based medicine become the vehicle for more-effective training in biostatistics for all.

— Abigail Zuger, MD

Published in Journal Watch General Medicine August 29, 2007

Citation(s):

West CP and Ficalora RD. Clinician attitudes toward biostatistics. Mayo Clin Proc 2007 Aug; 82:939-43.

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• Medline abstract (Free)

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